My Love My Beginning My End
by The Raven Queen
Summary: Set in the Marai timeline, this author has messed with what happene a little. What if one of the androids survived? And what if that android fell in love? And what if that love had the power to desroy them all?
1. The dangers of walking

My Love. My Beginning. My End.  
  
Chapter one: The dangers of walking  
  
  
  
I was walking along one day, minding my own business when suddenly, without any warning at all.  
  
Some one that felt about twice my size came barreling into me, throwing me right off my feet and slamming me into the ground about twenty yards away.  
  
I heard a sharp gasp from above me before I blacked out.  
  
*  
  
I opened my eyes groggily and stared at the most amazing face I have ever seen.  
  
A pair of almond shaped icy blue eyes stared down at me and a cascade of black silky hair was inches from my face.  
  
Dammit he was hot. I could see he had a red scarf around his neck, he also looked pretty beat up  
  
"Are you ok?" I blinked and nodded  
  
"I think so" he smiled, not a smooth smile, but a nice natural one that instantly made me feel warm all over. Even though my backside and half of the rest of me was screaming out in protest. I told it to shut up-I was preoccupied.  
  
He sat down on his feet and offered me his hand. I sat up and with his help managed to stand.  
  
Now that I got a good look at him (What? He was hot!) I saw he could be no older than eighteen (just a little older than me ^_^) he had shoulder length black hair, a handsome yet somehow immature face, and a rather slender build, not that this bothered me at all.  
  
He was wearing form fitting jeans and a loose black top over a long sleeved one, with fragile looking boots under loose green socks. He had short red scarf like I mentioned before around his neck and a gun in a holster strapped around his hip  
  
"I'm sorry I smashed into you like that" he sounded almost, shy? But why would he be shy? He was drop dead gorgeous. My backside was really starting to ache  
  
"It's ok, it wouldn't be the first time I was bowled over by a guy" I joked, he grinned in a lopsided sort of way that set my heart a flutter.  
  
I told it to go away and leave me to myself. It ignored me and started saying rude words while I tried to keep from blushing  
  
"My name is Pei'ame, what's yours?" he blinked  
  
"Uhh, seventeen" I blinked back, frowning slightly  
  
"Interesting name" I said thoughtfully  
  
"I'm sure I've heard of you..." I could not remember, I don't remember much about my past to be honest so I gave up  
  
"Oh well, I'm sure you think my name is weird" he blinked  
  
"No, it's a nice name, I wish I had one as nice" I noticed we seemed to be doing a lot of blinking  
  
"Thanks" I smiled a little, this surprised me, I hadn't smiled in a long time, and come to think of it, I had never looked twice at a guy until now  
  
*  
  
I wondered why she was not instantly afraid of me. I also wondered why I didn't just kill her. Since the death of my sister all I had wanted to do was kill. But something about her told me I did not want to, and I always do what I want.  
  
*  
  
"So, do you live around here?" I shook my head  
  
"I sort of live anywhere" he nodded  
  
"Same here, where exactly are you living now?" I frowned  
  
"Well I was living in some sort of cavern, do you need a place to stay?" he nodded blankly. I shrugged, inwardly shrieking and screaming and turning cartwheels and kissing a certain imaginary somebody  
  
*  
  
"It's a long walk, are you sure you could handle it? You look pretty beat up" I smiled and nodded  
  
"It's not as bad as you think" it hurt like hell but I was alive and I was grateful for that. And she intrigued me greatly. Even if she did not know who I was she should still fear me, in this world anyone could be a threat, for any reason. This world could turn ordinary humans into hungry dogs.  
  
It had once been fun but now I did it just for revenge. Trunks took my sister from me, so now I was taking the last of his world apart, as slowly as possible, I had to avoid him and as humiliating as it was he could kill me with the right blow so I had to be careful and stay right out of his way. If he caught wind of me in a certain area he was there in a flash.  
  
I limped after her as she led me towards the large mountain I had been about to destroy to vent my fury at Trunks having interfered in one of my raids.  
  
I was suddenly glad I didn't.  
  
Perhaps it was because I was badly injured,  
  
Maybe it was just because I saw her as a new kind of sport. Possibly I could toy with her for a while, let her think I was to be trusted, and then savor the fear, the hurt she would feel just before I killed her.  
  
It was perhaps three miles to the mountain, I was surprised at just how far apart everything was when you didn't fly. My flight capabilities were badly damaged and flying would alert her to who I was anyway, so I left it.  
  
It took perhaps half an hour just to reach the mountain. I was amazed to find that, android or not, all this exercise did hurt and did make me tired, she on the other hand was going at a reasonable pace, even after the beating she must have received when I landed on her.  
  
She waited for me to catch up at the base of the mountain  
  
"Do you need a hand to get up? It gets pretty hard from here on in" I was already panting but I shook my head, why would I need help from some human? I was android Seventeen! I did not need help.  
  
*  
  
I began the long climb, going slowly so he could keep up. I was aching all over anyway but I am so used to this walk it didn't bother me anymore than when I had been on flat ground.  
  
On the other hand I could hear him panting and scrambling behind me.  
  
*  
  
She stopped and turned, offering her hand. I blinked  
  
"Give me your hand, we're almost there" I inwardly shrugged and reached up. It hurt like hell to stretch my shoulder, not that I showed this.  
  
She pulled me up with surprising ease.  
  
"Just up here" there was a vertical stretch right in front of us, we were standing on a small ledge  
  
"Now all you have to do is jump up and catch my hand when I get up there" she instructed. I nodded, it had been about three hours and I was in no condition to do anything myself  
  
I blinked in surprise as she leapt up like a cat and hooked her hands into little footholds I had not previously seen. She climbed like a monkey, actually swinging her whole body up and over her hands  
  
*  
  
I climbed the easy way because most of my body was still screaming at me to lay down and die. I used my ankles to pull myself high enough to flip onto the second and slightly larger ledge.  
  
I landed in a cat like crouch, told my complaining posterior a few choice words and turned to lie flat so as to offer seventeen my hand.  
  
He was lighter than I expected even after pulling him up before.  
  
*  
  
I was surprised at how easily she hauled me up. I crawled over the edge. I was suddenly dizzy. I wondered why  
  
*  
  
He suddenly keeled over. I blinked in surprise. Oh HELL no! I couldn't have just killed the hottest guy in existence! Could I?  
  
I realized he was breathing so I just picked him up the way guys normally do girls, (Hey it was the easiest way to carry him, well maybe just the most fun. hehe) and walked inside.  
  
*  
  
I groaned and opened my eyes. I was on something soft and fuzzy. All I could see above me was a rock ceiling. It was pretty high up as well.  
  
I heard footsteps and a rather pretty face came into view  
  
"Oh you're awake" She smiled. I grinned back, unsure why exactly I did  
  
"Are you hungry?" androids don't need food but we can handle it easy enough and it does help when you're damaged so I nodded. My self-repair systems were taking a while to fix up my muscle damage and my flight capabilities were still way off.  
  
She grinned and helped me sit up  
  
"Here" she placed what looked like an apple in my hand. I took a bite. Suddenly I felt power coursing through my circuits, healing, repairing, kicking my servo motors into life.  
  
I flexed an arm  
  
"What was that?" she smiled  
  
"I don't know, but you looked like you could have used one" I nodded and smiled again.  
  
*  
  
I smiled back and got up.  
  
"So, where are you from?" I busied myself with cleaning up the mess. I had been planning to hunt today but it was too late now  
  
"Here and there" was the casual answer, I decided not to press it  
  
Authors note: This is going to be a rather odd little story. So don't be tooo freaked out by it. I really want opinions on this one. My little mind has been expanding beyond that of my green haired vixen and her three eyed man (heh heh heh) so I kinda wanna know whether or not I should stay in my comfort zone. Other than that expect some very weird quirks along the way. :D  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen 


	2. The other side

Chapter two: The other side  
  
I stared out across the land, across a broken world. They had done this. I wanted to be angry, but all I felt was sadness. Sadness for all my lost friends, for my lost family, and for my lost love Negata had been only seventeen when they killed her. It was what truly pushed me to travel back in time.  
  
But one android kept evading me. Making sneak attacks, just out of spite now. He knew that one day I would get him it was only a matter of time, but he kept killing.  
  
I could not lift the feeling of grief and utter helplessness at what lay below me. I was standing on the balcony of my house, the survivors had set up camp in our compound, as many that could get there.  
  
It was like having the whole world crammed into your private space.  
  
I wondered what he was doing now. I have been hailed as a hero for destroying android eighteen and saving so many people but I am not. People grew scared of me after a while,  
  
I wouldn't peak to anyone and I spent all my time searching for the boy who killed my father and my sister and the love of my life.  
  
I hear whisperings and rumors wherever I go. People think I'm mad, obsessed with destroying this menace. Most of them are just grateful to be alive.  
  
*  
  
I stepped onto the balcony to find my son looking out at our world, it's a sad wretched place but it's better than what it was.  
  
I worry about him, but I understand, time has worn away the person I once was, I was once fiery and volatile, but I have seen too much pain to be the woman I once was.  
  
Time has changed us. I have worked most of my life to see this world rebuilt but I fear through all of it I may have lost the last of my family. Oh how I wished I had my father back, he was always the wise one, the one who always knew what to do.  
  
Trunks was just a baby when they killed him, maybe it was a good thing, had they gotten him later on he most likely would not have dealt with yet another death.  
  
"Trunks?" he turned and half smiled at me in that way he does.  
  
"Yes mother? Do you need something?" typical Trunks, always worrying about me. I worry about him even more so than before  
  
"Come inside and have something to eat. You haven't eaten thing today" when I use that tone, the only of my old self I have retained besides my appearance he always obeys me.  
  
* I nodded and followed her into the house, we had lent most of the main compound to the survivors, but we still had the best wing to ourselves, it was completely self-sufficient.  
  
I sat down at the table and as always there was a meal set out. I slowly chewed each morsel. My only reason for eating was to stay strong, so I could personally beat the crap out of the android then break him apart, screw by screw.  
  
*  
  
After what I supposed was supper I left for a while. I headed for the one place the androids had never found, it was the place my mother and I had buried all the Z fighters  
  
It has an eerie feel to it. Whenever I go there, there is a soft breeze.  
  
The whole place is full of flowers and beautiful statues, my mother's touch.  
  
I knelt by my fathers grave and sighed. I was only twelve when they killed him.  
  
I had sworn many times to be everything he would have expected of me as his son.  
  
And I swore it again.  
  
Authors note: see where I'm taking this? I was looking to try out something new, I don't really know if it'll turn out all that well though...  
  
Chou  
  
The Raven Queen  
  
By da way.  
  
REVIEWS!!!!!...please? 


	3. What we know, what we see

Chapter three: what we know, what we see  
  
I sat on the very tip of my mountain looking out across a barren wilderness. It's mainly grass and the occasional tree. But in the rays of dusk it's utterly enchanting. There was a thud and the sound of panting. I turned to smile at Seventeen  
  
"Hard climb?" he sometimes followed me up here. I didn't really mind.  
  
He had been my companion for nearly a year now. I still liked him, a lot, but he never showed any sign of liking me back.  
  
*  
  
I sat down heavily beside her  
  
"Why do you always watch the sun?" she turned to smile at me  
  
"Where do you disappear to during the day?" this was her way of telling me it was none of my business. I left it at that  
  
I wondered, like I did every day, why I had not killed her.  
  
She was pretty, in a rough sort of way. She was not delicate looking like my sister had once been. Her skin was rough and chapped and she was mostly muscle, not lots of it, but you would be lucky to find a soft spot on her. She didn't have much in the way of shape, though I had never seen her outside of those heavy furs she wore, essentially she had a straight up and down frame with subtle curves that betrayed her maturity. Otherwise I would have thought her no older than twelve, maybe younger.  
  
But she was also thin and her face was pretty, you just had to look beneath the browned skin and the fall of raggedly shorn black hair. She cut it with a sharpened knife every now and again when it started to get in her way  
  
"Mei?" this was my nickname for her  
  
"Hn?" she was staring at the last rays of the dying sun  
  
Now or never. If it bothered her now it would always bother her.  
  
"I'm an android" she turned to stare at him  
  
"You're joking right?"  
  
*  
  
He shook his head  
  
"How?" he shrugged  
  
"I don't know, some guy took me as a human and turned me into a machine" I could almost see a pleading look in his eye. But Ven never pleaded, he was arrogant, and downright insufferable a lot of the time, but I always patched him up when he came back looking as if a bus had hit him.  
  
Ven was my name for him, Seventeen was too long to be bothered with really, much like my name.  
  
I took a deep steadying breath  
  
"It's not as if it makes you any less human Ven, you're still the same arrogant bastard to me"  
  
He grinned that arrogant and highly annoying smile of his and with a sudden movement his arm had slipped around me and pulled me so close I could feel his breath  
  
"You're beautiful, you know that" I blinked, then he kissed me, quickly and roughly, it hurt a little, but it was more the shock, I was starting to realize just how strong he really was. After all I am pretty powerful myself. I am strong enough to bend a steel bar in my hands.  
  
But he must have been ten times that.  
  
I kissed him back.  
  
A whole lot harder.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Author's note: *insert sarcasm here* WOW!! DID YOU SEE THAT COMING!!!! Meh. Reviews, reviews, reviews! :D 


	4. The clock is ticking, the other side

Chapter four: the clock is ticking, the other side  
  
I glared at the sun. He was close, I could feel it. I knew he was near by  
  
I glided over the massacred village. I had helped rebuild it after the first attack. He was going right in for the kill. Knowing just where it would hurt most. It had been a year since I destroyed his sister and still he evaded me  
  
I glanced to my right, feeling a rather large ki, I was surprised, having never felt it before. I narrowed my eyes and headed towards it, the last thing this planet needed was another bad guy  
  
*  
  
I glided through low hanging clouds. There was nothing but plains and brown out here.  
  
I could still feel that power, it was perhaps equal to myself when I was resting.  
  
I suddenly looked down at two specs  
  
What I found was a petite woman with wild black hair, busy fighting some one.  
  
And that some one happened to be android seventeen.  
  
I blasted towards them, praying I would be able to save the girl in time.  
  
  
  
I suddenly stopped. She was on the ground curled into a ball, and he was bending over her. After a second he offered his hand and helped her up. I blinked in surprise. Then he started showing her the move he had used in slow motion until she figured out how to block it.  
  
Then they squared off again.  
  
I had learned a long time ago how to cloak my power so it would fool the androids' sensors, so I remained undetected.  
  
I didn't know why I didn't just kill him now, I knew I could, he did not know I was there, a single blast would take his head off.  
  
Actually I did know why.  
  
I wanted to know why he was being so gentle with this woman. I couldn't see her all that well through the tangled mane of wild hair. It was long but also stuck out at different angles. She was dressed in clumsily made gi, the cloth looked like animal skin of some sort. She looked something like a native american. Except there were none left. The entire race had been wiped out at one point, with possibly a few "half breeds" as my father had called anyone who was not of one race alone.  
  
I watched as he attacked her again. This time she kept up with him. Eventually catching him in a strangle hold them flipping him over. Then she lifted him off the ground by the belt and the scruff of the neck.  
  
She jumped into the air and raised him above her head.  
  
With a thundering crash they both went flying into the ground.  
  
I squinted as chunks of rock came flying and a cloud of dust flew up and around the now invisible pair.  
  
When the dust cleared she was standing holding what looked like a Katana in her left hand. And android seventeen was on one knee with his back to her. I realized he was tying up his boot lace  
  
Using the distraction, I charged  
  
Author note: what do you think so far? Let me know and I'll write more.  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen 


	5. Torn by day, united by night

Chapter five: Torn by day, united by night  
  
I looked up and heard a war cry. A purple haired man was flying towards us. I realized a split second before Ven. I threw myself at him, shoving him out of the way. Of course this put my in the line of fire.  
  
Some one who was obviously a lot rougher than Ven sent a fist straight into my back, narrowly missing my spine. I heard a grunt of surprise and I was pulled to my feet before I even his the ground. I screamed, it hurt like  
  
"Run! While you still can!"  
  
I was set on my feet by a very hot guy, hot in a different sort of way to Ven. He was not exactly tall, but taller than me, but then again I was even shorter than Ven, who was small and slender by his very design. He had long purple hair and looked as if he needed a shower and a shave. He was wearing a purple jacket with a weird logo on it and loosely fitted pants.  
  
I staggered back a few feet. Ven was on his feet. I nodded in answer to his silent question, I was fine.  
  
I wasn't really but he didn't know that, besides, it wasn't as if Ven would rush to my defense, even if this was just what I had done. Ven didn't believe in heroism, certainly he would help me if he found me beaten to a pulp on the ground, he would have taken me to my home and left most likely, unless of course he was in a mood to help. But Ven never stuck his neck out for anyone, if he was feeling generous then you were lucky. Fair enough really, I had understood this from the minute I met him, Ven also didn't believe in gratitude. We shared many of the same attributes in that area. Look out for number one, and help out your other half if you have the time.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" I demanded of the purple haired man, he turned to scowl at me, I was not so much worried for Ven, he could take care of himself, I was just severely annoyed at how much my entire back hurt  
  
"Get away from here! I won't tell you again!" his voice was urgent, I growled loudly  
  
"You are really asking for it bastard" I snarled  
  
*  
  
I realized Mei would stand no chance against Trunks. I didn't want her to get in the way.  
  
"Go!" I ordered, she answered with a scowl and tackled an unsuspecting Trunks.  
  
I blinked in surprise as she caught him in the same hold she had me in only seconds ago. Physically she was actually only slightly weaker than myself, but she lacked precision in her movements and was rather slow for one of such obvious strength.  
  
Her teeth were bared as she hung on. I could see her moccasins digging deep into the earth as she held Trunks  
  
*  
  
"I'll ask you again," I growled  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are" I was answered by a similar growl  
  
"The defender of this planet!" I was suddenly flipped into the ground, which was surprisingly hard  
  
"If you aren't with us, you're with him!" he spat, pointing at Ven, I didn't stop to consider what he was talking about  
  
"I don't care who you are" I growled as I flipped to my feet  
  
"But you don't just go around attacking people for no reason"  
  
"Mei! Get out of here! NOW!" I blinked at Ven  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'll explain later"  
  
I nodded, I understood his tone. I took a few steps back so I was beside him.  
  
*  
  
She was breaking into a run as she broke the rough kiss she gave me. There was nothing gentle about either of us.  
  
I turned to face a demi saijin somewhere between confusion and determination 


	6. Tick tock, tick tock

Chapter six: Tick tock, tick tock.  
  
I dug my feet into the ground and pulled out my saijin strength  
  
"Android" I stated with a steely note to my voice, surrounded by golden ki flames, and spiky hair going in all directions  
  
"You will not live another day" he smirked  
  
"We'll see" but I could see anger burning in his eyes  
  
At least he understood what he put me through.  
  
I charged.  
  
He ducked under my fist and sent a knee into my mid section, he didn't have time to withdraw before I round housed him in the head. He went flying to the side  
  
But I was waiting with fists ready.  
  
I pummeled him for a few minutes until he caught me by the ankles and swung me into the ground a few times. He was definitely much stronger. I was not sure how, but he was stronger.  
  
We were locked into a hit and counter routine, each hit was too fast to block but they did no great damage. Until he uppercutted me and, with that weird swipe move he seemed to have, sent me flying into a nearby mountain.  
  
Leaving a large hole in my wake I shot out the other side, raising my hands above my head I called the attack that had destroyed the first of the vermin. And would destroy the last  
  
"BURNING ATTACK!!" 


	7. Sacrifices

Chapter seven: sacrifices  
  
I felt it before I saw it. High above me there was a ball of purple light growing, like the ones Ven taught me to use a little while ago. Only it was much larger.  
  
I suddenly realized it's purpose  
  
"NO!!" I screamed the word as I rocketed upwards, flying faster even than Ven, who had taught me a while back.  
  
*  
  
I saw a brown and black streak and knew who it was. I didn't want her to get hurt but interfering would only make matters worse, he would not kill her, she was just another innocent to him. But I was more annoyed at her for getting in the way of my fight. I had told her to go. And she had come back. I didn't like the idea of her sticking her neck out for me.  
  
She smashed into him side on. Knocking the beam astray. I shot after her.  
  
The impact most likely would have knocked her senseless.  
  
I was right.  
  
I caught her on the run and blasted away. Trunks was busy recovering from what must have been one hell of an impact. My sensors told me he had dropped right out of super saijin and was trying to follow. He failed abysmally  
  
*  
  
I opened my eyes to a pair of icy blue ones staring down at me  
  
"Now why did you have to go and do that little one" he chided me gently. Whenever he was annoyed at me he got all superior like the gentle master with his pets. I scowled  
  
"I'm taller than you" this was true in a sense, with my hair that jutted out in a tangled mess I was slightly taller. He shrugged  
  
"You could have gotten yourself killed, then what would I do for a pet?"  
  
I whacked him. Being an android this did not hurt him greatly and being as strong as I was it did not hurt me too much either. He just smiled and shook his head at me  
  
"Where are we?" He smiled in that way he did when he knew something I didn't, dammit he was frustrating sometimes.  
  
So much smarter than me  
  
I can't even read.  
  
So dam smart.  
  
But I love him for it.  
  
"We are in a little house I used at one point" I listened carefully, I had lived in the wilderness for so long my sense were my ticket to survival so they were finely tuned. I heard the crashing of waves and the sound of seagulls  
  
"By the sea?" I had never been out of the wild wilderness I live in as far as I could remember.  
  
He nodded. I kissed him. Whenever we kissed it was in a quick almost jerky motion, and then we drew it out as long as we could, as though daring each other to break away first, somehow he always won.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" I nodded, most of my aches and pains were gone. I found I healed rather quickly  
  
"Good, how about a swim?" I grinned, understanding his meaning  
  
"But I have no clothes" I played along  
  
"I'm sure that won't matter" I smiled  
  
"And I don't know how to swim" this was in fact the truth where I lived there were no rivers, only small mountain streams in the high country. There were large grassy plateau on top of the mountain, which was mainly rock really, not much else. And all around was just nature, nothing but it.  
  
So I could not swim  
  
"Oh I don't think that will matter too much" I shrugged  
  
"You're the boss" he smiled  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Yes I am" 


	8. So close

Chapter eight: So close  
  
I spent a while in the regan tank. She had hit me a lot harder than I realized. But I was actually glad she had come on the scene, I now knew he had a weak point. I had seen him catch her and shoot away. I also now had a way of tracing him, whenever she used her power I would be able to track her. And even if he was not there I had bait to set a trap.  
  
I had stopped caring about fighting fair. I would not kill her. I was not capable of it. But that didn't mean I wouldn't threaten to.  
  
*  
  
I watched my son deep in meditation, he came back pretty beat up but refused to talk about it. I didn't understand how the android could do this, after all, he was more powerful by far. But he did ask me to rig up a device that would broadcast to an android though.  
  
I didn't understand why but I did it anyway. Deep down I wanted android seventeen to suffer just as much as Trunks did. But even deeper I did not want to make anyone suffer, no one.  
  
Not even android seventeen.  
  
*  
  
I looked up and smirked. I had felt her ki rise a little, jus enough to know what part of the world she was in. I decided to monitor it but not do anything just yet. It suddenly died down again. I cursed.  
  
I spent the next three weeks scouting for her ki but it was as if she had just dropped off the face of the earth. I was becoming more and more obsessed. I had to find her.  
  
It had not yet occurred to me to wonder just where she got this power of hers.  
  
Then one day I picked her up, very close. So close in fact I was certain she was within twenty miles.  
  
*  
  
I bent down to pull a flower out of the ground. I inspected the roots before throwing It over my shoulder.  
  
Ven and I had stayed at the cottage by the sea for about four weeks now. I was collecting plants for myself to eat. Ven hardly ate at all. Which was a good thing considering how finicky he was about other things; he most likely would have refused most of what I eat anyway.  
  
I'm used to roughing it. I bath in the sea or mountain stream I wear animal hide all over me and I run barefoot.  
  
I don't even really know what "fashion" is, except that it had something to do with females and what they wear.  
  
Ven on the other hand, is what I imagine to be a some sort of pretty boy, he likes his looks and gets all superior when I tell him he looks like an idiot.  
  
We didn't normally fight, but when we do it gets weird. Ven is so much smarter than me, he just starts analyzing me, just to annoy me. And correcting me and so on. When I'm angry enough I fight back though. He always has this cool expression,  
  
I found what I was looking for and sank my teeth into the flesh of the leaf. I look like an animal when I do this but it tastes alright and I don't give a dam.  
  
Having swallowed the snack I head into the forest I had been sticking to the edges of with the idea of finding some game. Cooked to perfection the way Ven did so well.  
  
*  
  
I was stalking a small doe when a noise in the distance made me prick up my ears. I scowled and leapt up into a tree. Crouching on the branch and out of sight.  
  
I heard a thud and chanced a look down. The purple haired boy from earlier was standing right below me. Glancing around he took a step towards the tree.  
  
I watched as he inspected the fresh track the doe had left. I had lived by instinct for my whole life and left no track behind me.  
  
Suddenly he looked up. 


	9. Hunting

Chapter nine: Hunting  
  
She leapt out of the tree and into another. I was faster than her but she was impossible to see through the leaves and foliage. I lifted into the air and followed the tiny noises that could have been animals. This amazed me, she was like some sort of jungle woman, the way she moved. I knew from experience she was a clumsy fighter but this was obviously her element.  
  
I realized I could still pick up traces of her power. I chased her for what must have been an hour.  
  
I suddenly caught a glimpse of her foot, clad in animal hide, I guessed this was what made her so silent.  
  
I leapt into the air and made a grab.  
  
My fingers close around her ankle in an iron grip. She swung around and started fighting, throwing in feral growls and more than a few curses  
  
I wondered why she was afraid of me. After all she did not know my intentions. Maybe the android had warned her, or told her some lie.  
  
I wrenched her out of the tree to find she was holding on. Tight, her fingers sunk deep into the trunk. I reached out, dodging her hard kicks and furious teeth, and pried her fingers away.  
  
*  
  
I looked up to hear the door opening and then some very animal growls, along with female shrieks and curses, and a grunt or two.  
  
I got up from my desk and stepped out into the hall that led to my lab.  
  
When I entered the living room I found Trunks holding some sort of wild woman on he floor. He looked pretty beat up, and I could see she had smears of blood on her hands and face  
  
"What happened?" I kept well back. I could see Trunks was having trouble holding her down, bites and claw marks dotted his skin and his shirt and jacket were literally torn in half  
  
"Sedate her and I'll explain" Trunks grunted, jerking his head back to avoid a claw ed hand that had wormed it's way free  
  
it's against my policy to just sedate the first person who makes trouble but she going to hurt herself in a minute, and she had already hurt Trunks so I had no choice.  
  
I rushed off to the medi wing and returned with a syringe and a back up or two I n case there were any smashed through her violent struggling.  
  
When I returned Trunks was barely holding on. He had managed to get her in a strangle hold but she was amazingly flexible and was twisting herself into odd shapes to get at him.  
  
I darted forward while she was busy and jammed the needle into her neck.  
  
After thirty seconds she did not even slow down.  
  
I had no choice. I gave her another  
  
And another  
  
And another.  
  
Three more trips back to the medi bay and she finally slowed down.  
  
Trunks did not relax his grip  
  
*  
  
She slumped down against me. In a sweeping motion I hoisted her off the ground. She was out cold.  
  
My mother was staring at me  
  
"You need to see a medic" I scowled but nodded, I was covered in cuts and scrapes, and the collective effort of ten long deadly nails can really do some damage.  
  
I limped after my mother 


	10. Truths revealed

Chapter ten: Truths revealed  
  
I groaned and opened my eyes.  
  
Panic set in. I began to thrash against the restraints I discovered around my wrists. Suddenly a hand touched my shoulder  
  
"Please, calm down, no one will hurt you" I scowled and bare my teeth  
  
"Who the hell are you, and what right do you have to force me here!" I snarled  
  
"My name is Bulma, and I think I will leave the explaining to my son" I noticed there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. I could not see her, she was out of my line of view. Suddenly another voice came to my ears  
  
"I suppose you want to know why I brought you here?" I snarled at the purple haired boy as his face came into view above me. He gave a half smirk and continued  
  
"You are bait, to catch android seventeen" I scowled  
  
"What wrong has he done?" I was finding it hard to keep pulling at the leather bands, my muscles were rebelling, refusing to do as they were told  
  
"I would stop struggling if I were you, there's enough drugs in you to make even me groggy. You'll get tired pretty quickly" I scowled, but found he was right.  
  
"Android seventeen has murdered over twenty billion people, about fifty percent of the world's population" I frowned, I was never good with numbers, and I had never heard of a percentage  
  
"How many?"  
  
"Half of the world's people" my eyes widened  
  
"He will not come for me" I stated defiantly. The boy gave me a smile that was almost warm, but beneath the surface it was full of malice  
  
"Oh yes he will"  
  
*  
  
I knew where she was.  
  
I also knew why she was there  
  
And I missed her.  
  
I knew she was fine for now, though I had no idea what Trunks would do to her if I did not turn up eventually.  
  
I didn't know why I missed her.  
  
In the past she had just sort of been there, I had said nothing for it or against it. I told her she was just a pet to me, and I had never thought about it really. But I missed her. I wanted her back.  
  
I knew now that I felt something close to love for her.  
  
I knew from that yearning ache in the pit of my stomach, and the dullness to all my movements, almost identical to the first time I had killed, after my sister was destroyed, that ache had healed with Mei around.  
  
But now.  
  
It was back, and so much stronger. Not only for my sister, but for Mei. I was confused as to why I thought loved her. She was just a toy to me, and one day I was just going to kill her, to savor the fear and the hurt in her eyes when I did.  
  
But now.  
  
I hated myself  
  
And most of all I hated Trunks  
  
Before my sister's death he had just been amusement  
  
But when he killed her, he became an enemy.  
  
And now  
  
He had to die.  
  
*  
  
It took three days for all the drugs to wear off, I slept most of it.  
  
Bulma brought me food and let me wander around the house. But some one was always watching me. Bulma tried to be nice, to make friends with me. Tried to comfort me, telling me I had not known what Ven was.  
  
But the truth was.  
  
I had known.  
  
I had seen the occasional splash of blood on his clothes. I had seen the bloodlust in his eyes, and I had seen him kill before.  
  
But I loved him anyway.  
  
I said nothing because I loved him.  
  
And strangely enough. I did not care what he had done.  
  
I loved him.  
  
I was sitting by a window, which was locked as usual. I knew Trunks was always monitoring my movements, though I didn't know how.  
  
I hated him.  
  
I wondered how some one with a person like Bulma for a mother, could sink to such tactics.  
  
I hated him.  
  
Bulma appeared in a doorway  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
I scowled  
  
"Fine" she smiled in response, a subdued smile  
  
"You know it's not that bad"  
  
I growled  
  
"How would you react if you were taken prisoner for a crime you did not commit"  
  
She patted my arm, I smacked her hand away. She inhaled sharply but said nothing  
  
"He means well, Trunks, but he's suffered so much he wants to kill Android seventeen, more than save what's left of this world"  
  
I shrugged  
  
"I don't care what his intentions are. For freedom fighters your people do not practice what they preach. You fight for freedom yet you keep me locked up here?"  
  
She nodded  
  
"You are right, but you must understand why" I snarled at her  
  
"I don't care"  
  
I threw the simple blue cup in my hand against the wall so hard it didn't just shatter, it disintegrated, leaving a large dent. She sighed and left the room. 


	11. Sins bared

Chapter eleven: Sins bared  
  
I waited three weeks, he did not come. I began to wonder if she had been right.  
  
I decided to show her what this monster had done.  
  
I stepped into the living room to find her attacking a large meal. She seemed to like the same food as I did, and she did have some semblance of table manners, not much, but some.  
  
She noticed his presence immediately and bared her teeth. He sighed  
  
"Come with me" she scowled but followed him from the room  
  
*  
  
I watched from the window as Trunks took off with the girl in a tight hold. I knew what he was going to do. I sighed and went back to reading.  
  
I was disappointed in Trunks, but I could not blame him. I would have been just the same had it not been for the influence of my father. I just hoped he would see the right thing to do.  
  
*  
  
I glided over the freshest of seventeen's attacks, just before I found her. I felt her stiffen as she saw the destruction. The dead had been cleared but it was still evident what had been done  
  
I toured a few sites, then showed her a city, it had once been the biggest in the world. The job was a large one so there were still many human remains here and there. She froze and shivered  
  
Then I showed her the archives, of all the people, and the individual killings, there were some photos as well, the slow deaths, the painful ones.  
  
I pulled up the profile on the screen and forced her to look at it. She went limp, and I saw her eyes were closed and her face was white. She started to shake, I held her up until she started to breathe again.  
  
"Gods" she whispered. I nodded grimly.  
  
*  
  
I looked up as Trunks landed on the balcony. I saw he was carrying her this time, and set her down much more gently. He tilted her head up to face him and said something I did not catch. When he let her chin go she stared at the ground. Even at a distance I could see her white face and shaking hands.  
  
Trunks stood by her for a few minutes then rested a hand on her shoulder. She did not respond. He left her alone, leaning on the rail.  
  
*  
  
I felt my eyes sting, I didn't know what it was but it hurt. I let little droplets of salty water run down my face and fall over the edge to shatter, into millions of crystal shards, on the concrete so many stories below.  
  
I was crying, as I later found out it was called, not because of all he people who had died, or because of the fact that it was Ven who had done this. I was crying  
  
Because, despite all of this  
  
I loved him.  
  
And in some ways, more.  
  
Because if he could just kill anyone he saw without batting an eyelid, it meant he must have felt something very powerful for me from the first moment. And that made me love him more.  
  
I had never felt something so bitter and so sweet at the same time.  
  
I wept, like a child for, many hours.  
  
*  
  
I knew I had only a little while until Trunks got impatient, he would do something rash, he had in the past.  
  
I wondered how I would get her. Trunks was my only obstacle  
  
As I was pondering this my sensors told me Trunks had cloaked his power. I knew he was close by. I slipped into the shadow that the ruins of this city seemed to be made of.  
  
*  
  
I wondered where I was going. It had been simple enough to leap off the balcony and sprint. Trunks had disappeared. I knew he would be after me soon. I just wanted to draw him off the trail, soon.  
  
I had already made it out of the compound and the surrounding area. I was thinking to go to the nearby ruined city; he would have trouble finding me there. I blanched at the thought of the dead. But I consoled myself with the fact that it was not the same city as the one Trunks had forced me to see.  
  
I slipped behind a building and slunk along the alleyway. My recovered Moccasins making no noise on the rubble  
  
*  
  
I readied myself for what I had no doubt would be my last battle as Trunks blasted into super saijin mode.  
  
I knew I would join my sister soon.  
  
I just hoped Mei would learn of my crimes and hate me enough so she would not care if I lived or died.  
  
He charged 


	12. The battle of tortured souls

Chapter twelve: The battle of tortured souls  
  
I was walking along a street, trying not to look at the occasional body or pool of dried blood. These were recent killings, and there were older ones, what was left of decomposing bodies, a few bones, I could still see the clothing these people had once worn.  
  
This was too real. I closed my eyes and leant again a wall that was actually the roof of a building dug into the ground. I shifted my weight and stood on something soft.  
  
I opened my eyes and stare down at a small slightly rotted toy, it was a rag doll, made primarily from what looked like sacking. I bent and picked it. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged the small thing desperately. I guessed it had belonged to some little girl who had been yet another victim of Ven's rampages. I sighed sadly.  
  
To me it felt as if I had committed these crimes. Because frankly, I still loved him, nothing could change that, and that was what scared me. I leant against the wall again, the doll still clutched in my rough calloused fingers.  
  
My eyes shot open. I listened carefully.  
  
I heard the sounds of fighting, and my eyes widened. Taking off at a run I followed the screams and booming sounds of steel upon steel and more.  
  
*  
  
I was no longer thinking, venting all the rage that had built up over the years upon the now defenseless android.  
  
He was no little more than a flying rag doll, as I punted him about faster than the speed of light.  
  
And he was screaming, screaming in the kind of pain we had both known all our lives.  
  
To my surprise I did not enjoy it. I did not enjoy seeing him in pain, but I wanted to do it. I wanted him to suffer.  
  
So I made him suffer  
  
*  
  
I got slowly to my feet. Half my circuits were showing and I could not feel my left side.  
  
I stood leaning my weight on a semi broken leg with blood pouring from my face where he had shattered my cheekbone.  
  
It hurt, but I ignored it, facing my opponent and executioner. He rose high up into the air. Raising his hands above his head  
  
"BURNING ATTACK!!"  
  
*  
  
I heard the word and screamed. Tears began to run down my cheeks as I streaked towards the sound. But I knew it was too late.  
  
A shockwave of ki blasted me off my feet and slammed me through a few buildings that had been left standing.  
  
I got up and ignored the pain in my body,  
  
And I ran.  
  
I ran so hard and so fast I stopped feeling my body, I even forgot I had one  
  
It was like being some sort of floating spirit with the world flashing by around you.  
  
I came to halt in a massive crater  
  
Then I saw him 


	13. An angel at my side

Chapter thirteen: An angel at my side  
  
I face swam into view. It had purple hair and no expression  
  
Suddenly it was jerked out of view and I heard a scream and a thud.  
  
*  
  
I smashed my fist down into his face, rendering him senseless.  
  
I turned back to Ven.  
  
I had no more tears left, I was numb.  
  
All I wanted to do was spend a few warm, quiet moments with the only person who meant anything to me in this world  
  
I snuggled into his side. He was alive, just.  
  
*  
  
I blinked a found some one warm was beside me.  
  
"Mei?"  
  
She smiled  
  
"I love you" I had never told her that before, I knew I had no more than a minute  
  
She sighed  
  
"I know, I knew all along, and it only made me love you more" I frowned  
  
"Why did you have to come here little one?" she answered with a kiss, the softest most gentle kiss I had ever felt from her.  
  
The pain was dulling, and then,  
  
I couldn't feel any pain. Her hand found it's way to mine as she finally broke the kiss. I could feel myself drifting away on the carpet of heaven her kiss had made for me.  
  
I could not feel anything except where she was touching me. It was warm and comforting  
  
"Mei?"  
  
"Hn?" I was starting to feel light headed  
  
"I never meant to hurt you, I..."  
  
She smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze  
  
"I don't care Ven" she whispered  
  
"I would love you if you had destroyed the universe, my life, anything, I would still love you"  
  
I blinked  
  
"I know" I whispered. I was losing my vision, but I had to tell her  
  
"Little one, I'm sorry, for getting you caught up in this"  
  
I lost all feeling to my body, but my heart still ached, she was going to feel so much pain, how could I do this to her?  
  
"I know, Ven." I never got to hear her next words.  
  
My eyes closed and the pain stopped completely.  
  
The soft kiss, the sweetest thing I had ever felt in my life.  
  
Had held me up through to the end of it.  
  
And even though I did not deserve it.  
  
I had angel beside me every second 


	14. Bloodshed

Chapter thirteen: An angel at my side  
  
I face swam into view. It had purple hair and no expression  
  
Suddenly it was jerked out of view and I heard a scream and a thud.  
  
*  
  
I smashed my fist down into his face, rendering him senseless.  
  
I turned back to Ven.  
  
I had no more tears left, I was numb.  
  
All I wanted to do was spend a few warm, quiet moments with the only person who meant anything to me in this world  
  
I snuggled into his side. He was alive, just.  
  
*  
  
I blinked a found some one warm was beside me.  
  
"Mei?"  
  
She smiled  
  
"I love you" I had never told her that before, I knew I had no more than a minute  
  
She sighed  
  
"I know, I knew all along, and it only made me love you more" I frowned  
  
"Why did you have to come here little one?" she answered with a kiss, the softest most gentle kiss I had ever felt from her.  
  
The pain was dulling, and then,  
  
I couldn't feel any pain. Her hand found it's way to mine as she finally broke the kiss. I could feel myself drifting away on the carpet of heaven her kiss had made for me.  
  
I could not feel anything except where she was touching me. It was warm and comforting  
  
"Mei?"  
  
"Hn?" I was starting to feel light headed  
  
"I never meant to hurt you, I..."  
  
She smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze  
  
"I don't care Ven" she whispered  
  
"I would love you if you had destroyed the universe, my life, anything, I would still love you"  
  
I blinked  
  
"I know" I whispered. I was losing my vision, but I had to tell her  
  
"Little one, I'm sorry, for getting you caught up in this"  
  
I lost all feeling to my body, but my heart still ached, she was going to feel so much pain, how could I do this to her?  
  
"I know, Ven." I never got to hear her next words.  
  
My eyes closed and the pain stopped completely.  
  
The soft kiss, the sweetest thing I had ever felt in my life.  
  
Had held me up through to the end of it.  
  
And even though I did not deserve it.  
  
I had angel beside me every second 


	15. Bloodties

Chapter fifteen: Bloodties  
  
Bulma sighed as she stared at the photo, it was of herself and Vegeta and their children. She was holding Trunks, staring down serenely at the tiny bundle, and Vegeta was holding a small girl, fighting tooth and nail to jump into the air  
  
Namee, the tiny girl had very quickly learned the uses of her father's shoulders as a springboard. Bulma had known from the instant she was born, that Namee was all Vegeta, not an ounce of herself in there. By the time she had reached two, Namee had had an already muscled frame, not much, but a hell of a lot for a two year old. She had a solid but petite build, and wild hair that screamed only one word  
  
Saijin  
  
Bulma sighed and blinked back tears, wishing desperately for Vegeta, and Namee, the other half of her family.  
  
Sometimes it felt as if she was the only one left. Trunks had become a completely hollowed out shell, he rarely spoke a word, and never smiled. He trained, but she knew his heart was not in it. She still remembered the way Namee would chase him around the house until he screamed loud enough to annoy Vegeta, who would then scoop up a writhing Namee and carry her to the gravity room where he would play a saijin version of tag with her until she was so tired she just dropped to sleep where she stood.  
  
This had been Vegeta's way of dealing with the "energetic" girl as he called her. Bulma had never been able to handle her, Namee had never tried to hurt her but every now and again she would just refuse to be held, refused to be coddled, and would struggled until Bulma had to let her go or risk being kicked in the face.  
  
Namee had never been one you could just hug at odd moments. She listened to Vegeta when he gave an order, but that was about it really.  
  
Bulma sighed sadly, a tear slipping down her cheek.  
  
The worst thing about this world was the silence.  
  
An empty, deep silence that constantly reminded you that even if you were surrounded by people.  
  
You were always alone.  
  
Bulma lowered her head and wept. Suddenly footsteps came up from behind her and a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind  
  
"Mother?" Bulma sighed, blinking back the tears that still fought to escape  
  
"Trunks-" Bulma began, her nerve failing her  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Be a good boy and bring me a glass of water" Trunks nodded silently and left the room.  
  
Bulma sighed heavily.  
  
"Vegeta, you bastard, you left me alone here" she whispered  
  
"But you better take care of her up there" she smiled slightly  
  
"Just try and accept her man as well"  
  
*  
  
Somewhere high above Vegeta looked down upon his mate and scowled  
  
"Not a chance woman" he growled, sending a sideways glance at the petite woman beside him, she was holding a small bundle. And behind her, a few yards away, shrouded in shadow,  
  
Was the silhouette of one condemned android  
  
"Ven!" the small woman said sharply  
  
"Get your ass over here and hold your bloody kid! You think I'm gonna do it all eternity!"  
  
Ven sighed and smirked as he stepped closer to Mei  
  
"Sometimes I wonder little thing, whether it was worth leaving hell for this" he took the bundle anyway  
  
Pale blue eyes framed by a mane of wild blue hair stared back at him, and small slender fingers reached out to wrench on his own silky black strands. He winced and gently removed them, smirking at his daughter  
  
"You know kid, it could be worse, you could have your grandfather's looks" he said softly. Then dodged a flying ki blast as it whistle past his ear.  
  
"Temper, temper" he taunted softly  
  
"I still need a name for her" Mei muttered, her well-muscled arms folded over the saijin breast plate she wore  
  
"Namee" Vegeta grunted  
  
Ven grinned and nodded  
  
"It suits her, and anyway, at least he didn't have a hand in her appearance." Mei snatched the bundle as Seventeen turned and ran, Vegeta hot on his heels, ki blast in hand.  
  
Mei sighed in annoyance as she gently rocked the tiny thing in her arms  
  
"One, day brat" she murmured  
  
"You'll meet your uncle"  
  
*  
  
Trunks felt a sudden breath of wind lift his hair and smiled, the first time he had smiled in a long time.  
  
He took a breath of the cool evening air and stepped back along the corridor, glass of water in hand.  
  
~~FIN~~ 


End file.
